Kohntopp, who flies Boeing 737s for an American airline, spent almost five months in Iraq during the war, flying 27 combat missions.

He is named in the Sun newspaper as the pilot at the controls of call sign POPOV36, which attacked a British convoy of light-armoured vehicles almost four years ago.

The father of two, who was assigned to the 190th Fighter Squadron, was the chief of A-10 mission planning and was awarded a bronze star for his service during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"My best piloting experience has been flying the A-10 in Iraqi Freedom," he told a magazine in his home state, which pictured him on the cover alongside the headline 'Top Gun'.

"After all the years of training, to go to war and use my experience to help depose Saddam from power was the epitome of my career."

The claims come amid allegations that the Ministry of Defence conspired with the Americans in an 'appalling' cover-up to prevent L/Cpl Hull's widow Susan learning the truth about his death.

The last moments of the 25-year-old sol-life only became clear after cockpit video footage from a US plane was leaked showing a catalogue of blunders.

Mrs Hull says she was told by the MoD 'categorically' that such footage did not exist.

Two pilots, reservists on their first combat mission, have been cleared of all responsibility by a US military inquiry.

Last night the air squadron involved in the tragedy apologised to L/Cpl Hull's family.

A spokesman for the Idaho National Guard said it was 'very sorry that this incident happened'.

"We're obviously very, very sorry to the family and extend our sympathies to them," Lieutenant Tony Vincelli said.

It also emerged yesterday that a British investigation into the tragedy did blame the pilots, despite claims to the contrary by American officials.

It criticised them for failing to make adequate checks on whether the target was a friendly or hostile convoy.

The report, carried out by the Ministry of Defence's Board of Inquiry, highlighted the fact that the two pilots only had binoculars to identify the convoy.

It was far more critical than an American probe, which concluded that the attack was an accident and the pilots had followed the proper procedures.

Neither man faced a court martial and no disciplinary action was taken against them.

Kohntopp now teaches novice pilots how to dive and strafe targets, according to the Sun.

After graduating from the University of Idaho in 1985 with a degree in computer science engineering, he joined the US Air Force.

He chose to be trained to fly the A-10 fighter plane, boasting: "It's the slowest but the meanest of our fighter aircraft."

His first mission was a 13-month deployment to South Korea. After impressing his superiors, Kohntopp became a test pilot and instructor for the first Stealth bomber, the F-117 Nighthawk.

The pilot, in his 40s, left the air force in 1999 and now flies for the reserves.

Despite more than 20 years experience as a military pilot, the 'friendly fire' attack was his first combat mission.

Kohntopp now lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife Saunie and their two children, Jared, 13, and Jessica, eight.

Last night there was no one at their home and US officials refused to confirm he was involved in the incident.

Earlier Tony Blair told the Commons he believed the MoD had acted in 'good faith' throughout the process but promised to look again at the system to ensure that 'in similar circumstances we are able to deal with it in a better way'.

Mr Blair said: "We deeply regret the distress caused to Lance Corporal Matty Hull's family by the delay in concluding the inquest into how he died.

"I can assure you that we will do everything we can to cooperate with the coroner."

Demands that the two airmen testify when the inquest resumes on March 12 have been dismissed by the Pentagon.